


The Bottom of the Stairs

by Rkarena59



Category: Frizzies: Franco Baldwin and Elizabeth Webber General Hospital
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-19
Updated: 2019-09-19
Packaged: 2020-10-24 09:27:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,049
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20703701
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rkarena59/pseuds/Rkarena59
Summary: Franco struggles to remember his past.





	The Bottom of the Stairs

Franco looked at the painting in front of him. His beautiful, magical Elizabeth told him she thought the picture was about him coming out of the darkness into the light. How could he tell her  it was the exact opposite. To him, the painting represented his descent into hell. Kevin had been trying to tell him that he was sabotaging his happiness because he was afraid of that happiness.  If that was true how did he get past the barrier he had put up. 

As he studied the painting he tried to visualize it the way Elizabeth saw it. To him, the staircase represented the purgatory that was his life right now. Elizabeth and the boys were just past the light. All he had to do was go to them. He wanted that so bad. Everything about Elizabeth and the boys called to him but then his eyes were drawn to the broken steps leading to the darkness. He felt trapped in the middle of the stairs. Unable to go to Elizabeth, and yearning to leave the darkness that was pulling him down to the bottom. The bottom, what was really down there?

“I can’t take this. One way or another I need to find out the truth. Mom, why did you leave? Why did you ask for my forgiveness? What didn’t you tell me?” Franco walked out of the room, locked the door behind him and headed for the elevator. He was so deep in thought that he entered the elevator and never heard Elizabeth trying to get his attention.

Liz watched as the elevator doors closed. The past few days had definitely had some ups and downs. Nathan West’s death had really put a damper on the moods of a lot of people in town. Franco, in particular, had seemed really distracted after his weird conversation with Drew after the funeral. She wanted to follow Franco but was prevented when a patient’s call button went off. Liz took a quick look at her cell phone and then pocketed it as she headed for the patient’s room “Franco, please call me whenever you get where you’re going.” Liz had no idea someone else had eyes on Franco.

After watching the elevator doors close, the man quickly headed to the stairs. Knowing how slow the hospital elevators were, he reached the ground floor just in time to see Franco leave the hospital.

****

Drew turned to Curtis. “What did you find out?”

“I found her but she’d already left.”

“I don’t understand? What do you mean, already left? Where was she?”

“She was living in a small apartment close to Elizabeth Webber’s house but according to her landlord, he saw her talking to a man around the middle of January. Their conversation was heated. He was going to interrupt but then Betsy smiled at him, waved him off and took the man into her apartment. The next day he found her apartment key in his mailbox. He assumed she left with the man she had been talking too.”

“Could the landlord describe him?”

“He said the man was tall with dark hair and a goatee.”

“Damn it, Franco found her first and moved her. He knows I want to talk to her but he’s been acting really strange lately. He’s hiding something. I’m going to find him and get him to tell me where he took her and then I’m going to wring his neck.”

“Whoa, you’re a Corporate CEO you can’t go wringing someone’s neck. Let me do this.”

“No, this is between Franco and me. It’s time to get the truth out of him once and for all. Thanks, man. I’ve got to go.” Drew turned on his heels and left. A few minutes later he stormed into General Hospital and headed directly to Franco’s art therapy room. The door was locked and he pounded on it. “Franco, open up! We need to talk and you’re not going to walk away from me again.”

Liz came around the corner. “Drew, stop that! Franco’s not here. He left about thirty minutes ago. What’s the matter? What has you so mad?”

“He’s hiding Betsy from me.”

Liz was flabbergasted. “That’s so not true. Franco has no idea where Betsy went. Why would he be hiding her from you?”

“He’s crazy that’s why. He doesn’t want me to find out our past. Elizabeth, do you know where he went?”

“I have no idea and even if I did, I wouldn’t tell you when you’re so angry. Why did you say Franco was hiding his mother. He hasn’t even heard from her since Christmas. She sent a card but there was no return address. It was you who told him she had left his home. What makes you think he found her and is hiding her?”

“I’ve been trying to find out more about this Jim Harvey. It seems too coincidental that he knew Betsy when Franco and I were little. I thought she could give me more information about him so I asked Curtis Ashford to find her. He did but when she was last seen, she was with a tall man with dark hair and a goatee. The next day she was gone. Who else would she go with except Franco?”

“Anybody. When did Betsy leave?”

Drew ran a hand through his hair. “Curtis said she hasn’t been in the apartment for about a month.”

“Well, there you go. It wasn’t Franco. He hasn’t gone anywhere for the last several weeks. If he hasn’t been working, he’s been with me and the boys. We’ve been planning our wedding since the middle of January.”

“Oh come on, Elizabeth. You’ve known where he’s been every minute? What about now?”

Liz frowned. “Okay, I don’t know where he went but I do know how to find him. Let me tell Epiphany that I need to leave. If you want to know where Franco is, I’m coming with you. I don’t want you two fighting. If you don’t let me come then you’re on your own. I can find him without you.”

Drew scowled but nodded. “Fine but hurry.” A few minutes later Liz sat down in Drew’s car and after fastening her seatbelt she pulled out her cellphone.

“Don’t tell me you’re just going to call him?”

“No, I already tried to do that and he’s not answering my texts.” She pressed an ap and the GPS for Franco’s car came up. “There he is. Oh, I know where he’s going.”

“Where?”

Liz looked over at Drew. She bit her lower lip and then said. “He’s headed to the home where he grew up? But that doesn’t mean Betsy is there. He’s been having some issues with certain memories. Maybe he’s going home to exorcise them.”

Drew grimaced. “You keep believing that Elizabeth, I told you he was trouble from the beginning. If Betsy is there, maybe then you’ll listen to me about him. He’s got about a forty-five-minute head start, but he’s not going to be in any hurry. If we push it, we should make up some time.”.

****

Franco pulled up outside the home. He sat for a minute staring at it. He felt his phone vibrate and looked to find several messages from Elizabeth. He shook his head. The last thing he wanted was for Elizabeth to worry about him. He quickly texted her. “I’m sorry, forgive me for not telling you before I left. I’m alright. Something’s been bothering me and I just needed to sort it out. Don’t wait for dinner, but I promise to be home to tell the boys goodnight.” He pocketed his phone and got out of the car. The last time he had been home Betsy had told him about Drew’s fall and his part in all of it.  _ Come on Franco. Just go in. Betsy’s not there. You can just look around and maybe something will spark another memory. _

_ _ He was about to put his key in the door when he realized someone had already jimmied the lock. “What the hell? “ He carefully opened the door and quietly entered listening for any intruders. He looked around, nothing seemed disturbed. Not wanting any surprises he grabbed the poker from the hearth and began a slow search of the house. He breathed a sigh of relief when he found no one there. Setting the poker down, he headed to his mother’s room. He couldn’t remember the last time he had even been in her room. The door was closed and suddenly Franco saw himself as a young boy tiptoeing up to the door. 

_ “Bobby stop! Mommy said we had to stay out of her room.” _

_ “But I just want to see if she put our Christmas presents there.” The door suddenly opened, a tall shadow fell over him and he screamed. _

_ _ Franco staggered back against the wall expecting the door to be open but it was undisturbed. His heart was racing. He didn’t know why but he felt like something bad had occurred after that door opened.  _ Stop that Franco, it’s your imagination running wild. Ever since your talk with Kevin you’ve begun expecting the worst from your memories.  _ He stepped forward and opened the door. There was a layer of dust showing on the furniture in the room and he remembered his conversation about the feather duster. He opened some drawers and there was nothing in them. “Mom, why did you leave?” What had you so scared?” The closet was also empty but suddenly Franco saw a small shoebox left up on the shelf that his mom must have missed when she left in such a hurry. 

Taking it down, he sat on the edge of the bed and opened it. He found numerous pictures of him and Drew, most of them laughing and playing together. “It doesn’t make sense.” Once again Franco felt that longing he had felt when Drew disappeared. “I loved you. Why would I want to hurt you?” Down near the bottom, Franco found a lone picture of a man holding him and Drew but the man’s face had been scratched out. A chill went down his back. He suddenly wanted to do more than scratch out the face. “You! I remember you.”

Franco dropped the box as memories started flooding in. Memories of everything changing when his mom brought that man home. The man ordering his mom around and soon, she did whatever he asked her to do. Franco and Drew soon learned to be as quiet as possible when the man visited, but that one day right before Christmas the man showed up while he and Drew were in their rooms. They had no idea he was in the house. Franco remembered telling Drew he would be right back but Drew insisted on coming with him.

_Once again Franco was outside the room only this time he could see the man standing over him. “What are you two doing here?” The man was a little unsteady on his feet and he lurched towards Franco. He just missed him as Drew grabbed Franco’s hand and ran down the hallway. The man caught them before they made it to the kitchen and put a hand over their mouths. “Oh no, you don’t. You know you were bad. It’s time to be punished and your Mom doesn’t need to know about it.” Franco struggled to get free and so did Drew. Just as they got to the top of the basement stairs Drew wriggled free and dropped to the floor right on the edge._ _Struggling with Franco, the man grabbed for Drew but Franco watched helplessly as Drew tumbled down the stairs._

Franco found himself at the top of the stairs. All he saw was his brother lying still on the floor broken and still. He closed his eyes. He remembered the man telling him to be quiet or he would find himself at the bottom of the stairs right next to his brother. Then the man just disappeared. 

“I wondered when you would remember me, Bobby.”

Franco turned and found himself looking at Jim Harvey and just as suddenly his worst nightmare had a face.

****

Elizabeth's phone pinged and she saw Franco's text. "I was right. Franco is just trying to figure things out. You need to let him find out on his own."

Drew shook his head. "Nothing doing. You know he's been hiding something. It has to connect to Betsy.:" As they pulled up to the house, they watched Jim Harvey enter.

"What's he doing here?" Elizabeth looked over at Drew.

"Isn't it obvious. He's here to meet with Franco." Drew parked the car.

"That's not true. Franco doesn't like him. If anyone is hiding something it's Harvey. Franco's been leery of him since he showed up in town."

Drew began to get out of the car and Elizabeth grabbed his arm. "I'm not letting you go after Franco when you're this upset. I'm coming too, if for no other reason then to keep you two coming to blows."

Drew scowled but nodded reluctantly. "Fine, let's go." As they entered the house they heard Franco and Harvey talking.

“It was you! You hurt Drew. No, you hurt us both. Mom had no idea you caused Drew to fall.”

“Your mom believed me when I told her you must have done it. All I had to do was remind her of the one time you locked Andy in the toy box. She believed me when I told her you were the one constantly giving Andy bruises. But she lied to me. She told me Andy died and after that, she said she didn’t want to see me anymore. I left, thinking no one would ever find out the truth. Then a couple of months ago I saw your pop up Art Show. Betsy recognized me and left before I could talk to her. I talked to her on the phone afterward and she said you were asking questions about your brother. I told her just to tell you the truth, that Andy died when he was young. The next time I called her, she didn’t answer. That’s when I found out there was the talk of new plans to update Port Charles and I thought I could kill two birds with one stone. I could make a fortune and get you and that memory finally off my back. You’re finally going to learn you can’t escape your punishment. It’s only right after you killed all those people for your Art. I always knew you had a dark streak in you. Why else did you put Andy in the toybox?”

“I was trying to keep him safe from you. I heard you yelling at Mom and knew you would be coming after us. I didn’t want you to find him. I told him to be quiet and then hid under the stairs, but Drew got scared and yelled and Mom came down and found him. She didn’t believe me when I told her why I did it.”

Jim reached into his pocket and pulled out a gun and switched on the stair light. “You keep believing that Bobby. Go on downstairs. Isn't it the place you always liked to hide from me? This time I'm sure we can find a good hiding place for you that you'll really love."

Outside the stairwell Drew and Elizabeth had heard the whole conversation. Elizabeth clutched Drew's arm and mouthed quietly "What do we do?"

Drew leaned over and whispered to her and she pulled her phone back out. Together they quietly made their way to the stairs.

Harvey and Franco reached the bottom and Harvey pointed to the freezer against the wall. "You like to hide from me. Why don't we check out that freezer? Go on, go stand there." .Franco did as Jim told him to. As he came to the freezer, he looked back at Harvey and saw Drew coming quietly down the stairs. At the top of the stairs stood Elizabeth. her phone in her hand facing the room.

“Put your hands on the lid. And open it. I heard you were looking for Betsy. I have a surprise for you."

Franco did as he was told. Seeing what was inside, his stomach turned but then his anger boiled to the surface. .He turned all his rage on Harvey. “You Son Of a Bitch! You killed her.” Elizabeth gasped at the top of the stairs causing Jim to swing around and shoot at Drew as he rushed him. Drew fell to the floor and Franco saw red. All those years ago unable to help his brother pushed him into action. He tackled Harvey and began hitting him. He didn’t stop until he felt Elizabeth’s hand on his shoulder.

“Franco, stop. Don’t kill him. He’s not worth it.” she reached down and caressed his cheek. “It’s alright, everything’s out now. Let the law take care of Harvey.”

Franco rested his head in her hand for a moment then kissed it. Harvey was out for the count and he looked over where Drew had fallen. He was so still. All Franco saw was his brother. He scrambled across the floor and turned Drew over. He pulled him into his arms cradling him. “I’m sorry. so sorry. Mom gave you away because she thought she was saving you from me. I missed you so much.”

Drew opened his eyes. “Bobby, I understand, I always understood. Mom was right. She couldn’t keep us both safe and you needed her more. I’m just sorry it’s taken me this long to remember you.” 

Elizabeth had already found some towels to staunch Drew’s wounds and they heard a moan come from Harvey. “I’ve got Drew, you better go tie up Harvey.” As Franco went to take care of Harvey, Liz looked down at Drew. “I told you, you were wrong about him. Franco does have issues but when he loves it’s all the way. I hope you'll be able to find a way to see past Jason’s memories and remember more of your own. Whether you believe it or not, Franco has missed you for a long time and one thing is sure, he never forgot you.”


End file.
